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I am a little embarrassed that this question might be ridiculous, but I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I purchased this wall sconce and added in a toggle switch because there's no wall switch on the circuit. The finished product came out pretty well:

Lamp on wall with added toggle switch

However, now that it is installed on the wall, the issue I am facing is that the included G9 LED bulb refuses to fit in the socket. I have tried pushing it with a fair amount of force, but it refuses to go in. Here is a close-up of the socket:

Fixture socket

And here is a close-up of the base of the bulb:

enter image description here

You can see some scuff marks in the center near the bottom where it appears to have been scuffed as I tried to push it into the socket.

Is it possible that the vibrations when I was drilling for the added switch loosened the small metal pieces that would grip the bulb? Or is this a common issue with G9 LEDs? Or am I simply being overcautious, and should just add force until it gets in there?

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  • you should not be able to see the end of the retaining hook in the socket. the hook is probably hitting something inside the socket because the end has been bent upward. ... also the hook should not stick out so far sideways into the socket. it does not need so much tension on the light bulb base – jsotola Apr 22 '18 at 20:59
  • @jsotola - Interesting, yeah, I was wondering about that. I've pushed in a screwdriver and been able to push the hooks back into their slot. I currently have some tweezers in there to exert outward pressure to see if the hooks will yield a bit if kept pushed for a few hours. I'm wondering if I take the fixture off the wall and set it on it's side so gravity isn't pushing the hook downward if it will make it easier to force in the bulb. – Alexander Nied Apr 22 '18 at 21:20
  • Yes, if it wiggles around a bit it may help to let gravity push it the way it needs to move. – Norm Apr 22 '18 at 21:37
  • do not count on gravity to have much effect on such a small mass – jsotola Apr 23 '18 at 0:05
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Looks to me like the spring retainer in the socket is bent outward so the end is hitting the edge of the bulb base. It looks to me like the end/tip of the spring retainer should be recessed into the slot. I would try pressing it into the slot with a flat screwdriver and see if it remains in place..

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  • Yeah, I have tried pressing a screwdriver in, and it seems to push the retainer back fully into the slot. I currently have a pair of tweezers in there pushing outwards on the two retainers to see if they will yield some space... – Alexander Nied Apr 22 '18 at 21:18
  • +1. But I would make sure the power is turned off before sticking a screwdriver into a socket! – AndyT Apr 23 '18 at 14:10
  • Thanks @AndyT :) I left the tweezers in overnight-- while they push the retainers back into their slots, the process doesn't seem to be actually permanently bending them into shape-- they fall back to their position as pictured when the tweezers are removed. I'm debating try to open up the socket to see if I can figure out why they are sagging and bend them back into shape... – Alexander Nied Apr 23 '18 at 14:16
  • Late but marking this correct. Finally took it back off the wall, dismantled it a bit, and was considering replacing the part but decided to spend a bit more time trying to reshape the clips a bit. It wasn't pretty, but with some screwdriver jamming and more force than is probably recommended I managed to cram the bulb in and it is working fine. Fingers crossed it comes out and the next one goes in a bit more smoothly... Sorry for the delay-- only just recently got to revisit this project. – Alexander Nied Jan 2 '19 at 6:04
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I just ran into this, and found an apparent solution. I took 220 grit sandpaper on the edge of the countertop (face up) and did about 20 or 25 strokes on each flat side of the G9 base, on each of the 4 long vertical corners of the base and then tried to round the 4 bottom outside corners above the wire loops a bit. The bulbs pushed in much easier after that. The base is something like porcelain, so I can't imagine it's harmful to the bulb. 150 grit might work a little better in hindsight - especially for the corners.

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